


cold feet & gritted teeth

by ideare



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Dialogue-Only, F/M, Gen, Lowercase, Pre-Relationship, Self-Denial, Self-Doubt, Wedding Jitters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23794027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideare/pseuds/ideare
Summary: doubts before your wedding are perfectly natural, right? it's not as if anyone is completely sure about spending the rest of their life committed to one person. right? ... right?
Relationships: Ambiguous or Implied Pairing(s), Narcissa Black/Peter Pettigrew
Kudos: 2
Collections: Rare Pair Shorts Numbers Game 2020





	cold feet & gritted teeth

"do you ever wonder what it's like to fall in love?"

"sure, _i_ do, but you're about to be married. shouldn't you know what falling in love feels like?"

"mm."

"but you don't?"

"i never said that; i was asking you a question. but i see you'd rather not answer."

"i did answer — that means you weren't listening. what are you thinking of? falling in love? are you having doubts?"

"what is this, an interrogation? can't a lady's mind wander?"

"um —"

"and besides, everyone gets cold feet when they think about their wedding."

"isn't that only supposed to happen on the wedding day itself? not before?"

"how would you know?! you've never been married before... it can happen at any time — any time before you actually get married, you can get cold feet. it's perfectly natural."

"... sure; it's part of the routine. i'm sure all those books and films didn't only use it for dramatic effect — to emphasise that another path lay open for the heroine, that she could change her mind and walk away at any time..."

"... don't do that."

"i'm not doing anything?"

"you know exactly what you're doing. and there's no need, because—"

"—you wonder what it's like to fall in love."

"i can wonder, that's not a sin."

"sure."

"and lots of people fall in love _after_ they get married. that's perfectly natural, too."

"isn't that usually when the bride and groom don't have a say in the matter? you're not being forced here. just because you said 'yes' already, it doesn't mean that you can't say 'no' now."

"that would be poor manners; i'll look fickle."

"then look fickle! what's wrong with that?"

"people will assume i wasn't raised properly."

"then let them; people are going to assume things about you regardless of who you marry. you shouldn't care about what they think."

"that's easy for you to say. no one expects anything from you; you don't have the reputation of generations to uphold."

"so, you'd rather spend the rest of your life hoping you'll someday fall in love with your husband, instead of just changing your mind now? is it really worth it — your pride? _him_?"

"my family name has already been tarnished -- i can't afford to lose face."

"your sisters aren't the only ones that are allowed to be happy. you deserve to be happy, too."

"... i will be. it's just cold feet — it's perfectly natural. after i fall in love, i'll spend the rest of my life in wedded bliss."

"sure. and hopefully it will be your husband you fall in love with."

"of course, it will be."

"of course."

**Author's Note:**

> written for the [numbers game](https://rarepair-shorts.dreamwidth.org/625952.html) over at rarepair_shorts. i chose peter, and then by pure luck, got narcissa in one of the numbers i picked. which was perfect, because i already ship her with peter.♥


End file.
